After turning off the Windows 10 October 2018 update on the weekend, Microsoft has again started delivering the feature upgrade to users.

The immediate reissue was limited to Windows Insider participants, Microsoft's opt-in beta test program, John Cable, director of program management in the Windows service and delivery group, wrote in a post to a company blog. "We will carefully review the results, feedback and diagnostic data of our Insiders before taking additional steps to release more generally."

Cable did not mention a date when Microsoft would fully restore the distribution. "Once we have confirmation that there is no further impact, we will go to an official reissue of the update of Windows October 10, 2018," he said.

That form of phased delivery – where code is first given to a few and then to a larger number of users – is common with software developers, whether they are big for the launch of a major innovation or, as in this case, after a debacle and forced restart. In the latter situations, the few-than-more-than-many approach is practically mandatory to restore customer confidence.

To fuel that confidence, Cable argued that Microsoft had found out what caused users to lose files after upgrading to 1809, the numerical label in the company yummy format. He assured users that Microsoft has everything under control.

"We have fully investigated all data loss reports, identified and fixed all known issues in the update and performed internal validation," said Cable.

He urged users whose files had been deleted to contact Microsoft support by phone or to visit help at a company outlet. Contrary to reports that support staff were equipped with special tools to recover lost files, Cable warned customers that removals might be permanent.

Cable's comments about Microsoft's changes to the Hub are exactly synchronized with the statements of outsiders about the insider's failure. "To help us better identify problems like these, we've added an option for users to also provide an indication of impact and severity when submitting user-initiated feedback," he said. "We expect that this will enable us to better monitor the most impactful problems even when the feedback volume is low."

Many took Microsoft to the shed and missed the company for the problem. "By allowing such a buggy upgrade in the wild, Microsoft has really let customers down, and a quick look at the Insider Feedback Hub shows that this is a previously reported problem," said Rod Trent, chief executive of myITforum.com and a recognized expert on the Microsoft System Center management platform.

"It's time to go back to the drawing board," Trent continued. "Microsoft's update test mechanisms have been broken."

Taking cables, not surprisingly, was not that bad. "We are determined to learn from this experience and improve our processes and reporting systems to ensure that our customers have a positive experience with our update process," he said as he took up his post.